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Ó Ceallaigh
Ó Ceallaigh
	Ó Ceallaigh.
Parent house	Connachta
Country	Ireland
Founder	Máine Mór
Current head	Robert Walter Joseph Charles O'Kelly
Final ruler	Feardorcha Ó Cellaigh
Titles	Kings of Uí Maine; Kings of Brega; Princes of Uí Maine; Count Palatine of the Holy Roman Empire; King-at-Arms of the Holy Roman Empire; Baron of Clankelly; Baron of Dungannon; Counts of Gallgh and Tycooly; High Treasurers of Connaught; Commander of the Connaught contingent of Brian Boru's Army;

O'Kelly (Irish: Ó Ceallaigh [ˌoː ˈcal̪ˠəj]) is an Irish surname and the name of a number of distinct sept families in Ireland. The most prominent of these is the O'Kelly sept who were the chiefly family of the Uí Maine in Connacht.^[6] Another sept is that of the kingdom of Brega, descended from the Uí Néill. A more minor sept of O'Kelly was that descended from the Uí Máil; this sept is referred to in Irish as the Uí Ceallaig Cualann, in reference to the region of their origin, Cualu.

O'Kelly of Uí Maine

The O'Kelly sept of Uí Maine is descended from Cellach mac Fíonachta, who lived in the 9th century. The first to bear the surname was Tadhg Mór Ó Ceallaigh,^[7] a grandson of the former who was slain in the Battle of Clontarf fighting on behest of his ally Brian Boru, king of Munster and high king of Ireland. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Kellys came from the tribe of Ui Maine who in turn were from the Dumnonii or Laigin who were the third wave of Celts to settle in Ireland during the first century BC.^[6]

The earliest parts of the O'Kelly genealogy are contained in the Book of Hy Many, which was written in the latter half of the 14th century on behest of the then archbishop of Tuam, Muircheartach mac Pilib Ó Ceallaigh. Its compilation was the idea of William O'Kelly, a chief of Hy Many. The book is now kept in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.

The coat of arms of the O'Kelly of Uí Maine is as follows: "azure, a tower triple-towered supported by two lions rampant argent as many chains descending from the battlements between the lions' legs or"^[7] The motto is, "Turris fortis mihi Deus", which translates to "God is a Strong Tower to Me" or alternatively "God is my Tower of Strength".^[8]

O'Kelly of Brega

The O'Kelly sept of Brega is descended from Cellach mac Congalach, a son of Congalach mac Conaing. This sept is considered one of the Four Tribes of Tara.^[9]

O'Kelly of Cualu

The O'Kelly sept of Cualu is descended from Cellach Cualann mac Gerthidi,^[10] an Uí Máil king of Leinster in the late 7th through to the early 8th century.

Castles and structures of the O'Kelly

Garbally Castle
Monivea Castle
Gallagh Castle
Clonbrock Castle
Galey Castle
Moyvannan Castle
St. Mary's Abbey, Duleek
Kilconnell Abbey
Aughrim Priory
Clontuskert Priory
Aghrane (Now Castlekelly)

References

^ O'Donovan, John. The Hy Many. pp. 143–144
^ Francis J.Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, Appendix II; T.M.Charles Edwards, Early Christian Ireland, Appendix II; with gaps filled in by the poem Síl Aeda Sláne Na Sleg found in the Book of Leinster Jump up ^ T.M. Charles-Edwards, pg.551–553
^ O'Donovan, John. The Hy Many
^ ^a ^b "Sir William O'Kelly". www.kellyclanireland.com.
^ "Familyhistoryireland.com". www.familyhistoryireland.com.
^ ^a ^b Cairney, C. Thomas (1989). Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States, and London: McFarland & Company. pp. 78–87. ISBN 0899503624.
^ ^a ^b "O'Kelly (No.1) family genealogy - Irish Pedigrees". Library Ireland. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
^ "A Little O'Kelley History". RootsWeb. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
^ "O'Kelly (No.5) family genealogy - Irish Pedigrees". Library Ireland. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
^ "Ireland's History in Maps - Leinster, Laigin - The Tribes of Ireland". RootsWeb. Retrieved 28 September 2021.